Hodgepodge

The plumber was here ALL DAY yesterday. Sigh. It took that long to get the shower repaired and to empty and clean out the water heater. I think Walt is going to write about it all. The bill is going to be salé, as they say in France — "salty", meaning "excessive" like a dish you've put too much salt in.

And it's not over yet. The plumber, Monsieur Rougemont ("Mr. Redmountain") will come back Monday to finish the job. He has to replace some pipes around the water heater. When he unhooked everything yesterday and installed a new pressure regulator, he noticed that there are some old cast iron pipes that are nearly filled up with corrosion and lime deposits. We're also having new faucets installed on our bathroom sink and the little "hand-washing" sink in the WC room.

Rain. That's the forecast again this weekend. Temperatures are very mild, and yesterday was actually a pretty day. I had a good walk with Callie in the afternoon, and she didn't try to run away.

Touraine is right next to the left shoulder of the weatherman,
Laurent Romejko, who is a neighbor of CHM's in Paris.

By the way, Monsieur Rougemont said he had done some plumbing work for the neighbors across the street about three weeks ago. What made him mention it was that Bertie the black cat came into the utility room while Rougemont was working on the water heater. Is that your cat? he asked. Yes, I told him. Well your neighbors hate him, he said, and when I was over there I got an earful.

Afternoon temperatures around 12ºC (mid-50s F)

He said he wasn't likely to accept any more work from those neighbors of ours, because they are too hard to please. They want everything to happen immediately, they complain about the prices, and then they take forever to settle up. None of that surprises me. I'm detecting a pattern.

Leftovers for lunch a couple of days ago...

Big decision of the day? Gratin dauphinois or pommes de terre à la boulangère for lunch? The two potato dishes are similar, but dauphinois is cooked with garlic, cream, and milk, where boulangère is cooked with onions, herbs, and broth. Both are thinly sliced (a.k.a. scalloped) potatoes cooked in the oven.

I'm leaning toward the broth version, because we're having a grilled duck breast with it, and I'm not sure duck and cream are such a happy combination. And I have some good chicken broth in the freezer. I think I'll take some pictures as I go. Spending the morning in the kitchen will be a good way to occupy myself as December rain blows in from up Normandy way.